Who Wants To Cut Their Healthcare Costs By 20% Instantly

[TexasBushwhacker]

65. We also have far more income inequality than Germany has

I would suggest that it isn't our racial diversity that causes higher healthcare costs in the US, it is the fact that so many of us are struggling. Our Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, is 40-45 and on par with Russia. Germany's is 25-30, one of the best in the world. Their minimum wage is approximately $10.50 an hour. They have healthcare, maternity leave, sick leave and vacation.

Providing quality healthcare for all is part of the big picture. Not having access to healthcare means things like cancer get diagnosed later, when they are more expensive to treat and more likely to be lethal. Chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure can be managed better and less likely to cause expensive and deadly complications like stroke and heart disease. Not having access to healthcare means premature death and disability, costing benefits like SSDI for the disabled and SSI for the survivors of the dead. Of course premature disability and death leads to higher poverty. It's a vicious cycle.